Gordon Giesbrecht
}} Gordon Grant Giesbrecht ' is a Canadian physiologist who operates the Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at the University of Manitoba in Manitoba, Canada. He studies the effects of extreme environments (including cold, heat, hypoxia, and hypobaria on the human body. His laboratory motto is ''vitas salvantas (saving lives). He was dubbed "Professor Popsicle" in a feature article in Outside Magazine. Dr. Giesbrecht is the Conservative Party of Canada's candidate for Winnipeg South in the Canadian federal election, 2015. Academic career Giesbrecht is a Canadian academic and public educator. Giesbrecht earned a PhD in physiology from the University of Manitoba in 1990 and has been a professor of thermophysiology in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management since 1991. He is best known for his work on cold physiology and the co-creation of Cold Water Boot Camp and Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp; two public/professional educational programs. He has also spearheaded a research and education program dedicated to reduce the incidence of vehicle submersion drownings, which account for up to 10% of all drownings. Cold physiology and survival Through publications, media appearances and educational programs, Giesbrecht has championed the fact that most cold-water immersion deaths are not caused by hypothermia (which takes more than an hour for most adults), but rather occur earlier due to either the cold shock response (gasping and hyperventilation), or cold incapacitation (due to cooling of muscle and nerve fibres). In order to clarify and publicize the four phases of cold water immersion # Cold shock response # Cold incapacitation # Hypothermia # Circum-rescue collapse Giesbrecht coined the 1-10-1 Principle which was introduced on February 19, 2004 on Late Night With David Letterman. "If you fall in ice water, do not panic and remember you have 1 MINUTE to get control of your breathing, 10 MINUTES of meaningful movement, and 1 HOUR before you become unconscious due to hypothermia." Vehicle submersion After testifying as an expert witness in an inquest regarding the death of the driver of a snowplough which broke through the ice on a winter road, Giesbrecht realized that up to 10% of all drownings occurred in vehicles and that there was virtually no organized research into vehicle submersion, especially with people in the test vehicles. Operation ALIVE (Automobile submersion: Lessons In Vehicle Escape) has resulted in a series of scientific publications and the following public advice for occupants of a sinking car: "Don't panic, do not touch your cell phone and remember 4 words, 'SEATBELTS off; WINDOWS open; CHILDREN released from their constraints; and OUT'". This work has also resulted in rewriting of the "Sinking Vehicle Protocol", and creation of a new "Vehicle Stranded in Floodwater Protocol" used by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch for 9-1-1 emergency dispatch operators throughout the world. Media communications Giesbrecht has appeared in a number of interviews and documentaries relating to his work in environmental medicine. * 2002 Discovery Channel Canada: Cold exposure;http://ia700308.us.archive.org/22/items/ColdWaterSurvival/Discovery_ice_water_response.mpg Survive one night; Ice water swim * 2003 Outside Magazine * 2004 Late Show With David Letterman * 2005 Giesbrecht "froze" Rick Mercer in a report titled "RMR: Rick with Dr. Popsicle." * 2009 On Rick Mercer's second visit with Giesbrecht, they explored the safe exit from sinking vehicles * Other media appearances include the National Geographic Channel, Canadian and US network news, The Nature of Things Publications Giesbrecht is the author/coauthor of over 90 publications in the scientific literature, has coauthored one book, Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries, and written a dozen book chapters. This is a partial list of his publications: * Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries (book) * Exercise and Cold Induced Asthma * The Respiratory System in a Cold Environment * Prediction of long-term survival during cold exposure * A mathematical model for human brain cooling during cold water near-drowning * Cold stress, near drowning and accidental hypothermia: A review * Shivering endurance and fatigue during cold water immersion * Pre-hospital treatment of hypothermia * Central and peripheral effects of hypothermia on elbow flexors * Thermal effects of dorsal head immersion in cold water on non-shivering humans * Problems and complications with cold water rescue * Vehicle submersion: a review of the problem, associated risks, and survival information (Invited Review) * Wilderness Medical Society Consensus Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Frostbite Awards and honours * 2012 '''Blair Erb Wold Congress Award for worldwide impact on wilderness medicine, from the Wilderness Medical Society. * 2012 The Ellingson Award for Scientific Writing Achievement within the Associate Fellows Group of the Aerospace Medical Association. * 2011 Education and Training Award of the National Search and Rescue Program Awards of Excellence (Canada) * 2010 Elected as an Associate Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association * 2008 Canadian Safe Boating Association, Special Recognition Award * 2005 Elected to the Explorer's Club References External links * Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine * Cold Water Boot Camp Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Canadian physicians Category:Conservative Party of Canada candidates in the 2015 Canadian federal election Category:Manitoba candidates for Member of Parliament Category:University of Manitoba faculty